Southern Lehigh using new system to calculate teacher pay

Some instructors will get no increase this school year, others as little as $1 more a year.

November 18, 2013|By Melinda Rizzo, Special to The Morning Call

Some Southern Lehigh teachers will have a pay freeze while others will receive as little as $1 a year more as part of the first year of their new employment contract.

The early bird contract signed last year runs from Sept. 1, 2012, to Aug. 31, 2016, and for the first time, bases pay raises on economic factors outside the district's control.

The new system means the district will kick in 2.85 percent more on salaries.

But business manager Jeremy Melber said, "Roughly 2.75 percent of the 2.85 percent increase this year is being taken up by step and column movement, which only leaves about .10 percent for people not (eligible for) step and column increases."

Melber said that means the district's highest wage earners would take a pay freeze, while those at the bottom and those ineligible for step and column movements could see as little as $1 per hour more.

Step and column increases are based on years of service, and the amount of education a teacher has completed.

Directors unanimously voted to adopt the contract matrix at a board meeting last Monday.

A starting salary for a new Southern Lehigh teacher is $46,057, per year, while top earners holding a doctorate degree would earn $86,339.

Melber said in a previous interview that the average teacher salary is about $67,000.

Melber said that most of the district's highest wage earners earn about $83,810, hold a master's degree and have completed about 15 hours of additional college credit.

Southern Lehigh School District Superintendent Leah Christman said the district's innovative contract was a topic of interest at a recent educator conferences she and Melber attended.

"We received lot of interest from districts in Bucks and Montgomery counties regarding this contract's model," Christman said.

According to Melber, the formula is complicated because it relies on the district's contribution to the state retirement fund (PSERS), the cost of providing health and medical coverage and the district's revenue from school property taxes.

"In years when the economy is strong, teachers will see better increases. We're all taking risks," Melber said.

The district will pay about 7.5 percent more for health benefits in the second year of the contract, Melber said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly characterized the $1 raise as being hourly and that teachers would be paying more for health care. The district is paying the increase.